Deane a Rebel with a Cause

Cork's failure to unearth any new talent in the forward line in the last two years has been put in stark relief by the return of Joe Deane and Neil Ronan to the full forward line with All-Ireland winner Niall McCarthy also returning as centre half forward for this weekend's clash with Dublin in the hurling qualifiers.
Manager Gerald McCarthy tried out Pa Cronin and Paudie O Súilleabháin in their Munster exit to Tipp but it was only when Deane came on to the field in the last ten minutes that Cork carried any real threat from pace up front.
It has been the failure to bring in new players into the full forward line over the last three seasons which has seen Cork lose ground to Brian Cody's Cats.
Kilkenny have brought in at least one new face each season and with the level of competition for places it has kept the Cats fresh and more importantly ruthless.
Cork on the other hand are still heavily dependent on the team which made the breakthrough in 1999.
The O'Connors, Joe Deane and Timmy McCarthy all played back then and if anything the Cork forward line is going backwards.
Ironically Cork have a problem of a different hue in their defence as two of Cork's half back line Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and Ronan Curran are out with injury and what has been one of the most consistent lines in the country has an unfamiliar look to it with John Gardiner going into centre half.
It's probably as well for Cork that they are facing a demoralised Dublin who have suffered Senior, Under 21 and minor defeats in recent weeks.
The old guard up front will be good enough to see off the Metropolitans but while they have been great servants of their county I just don't believe that they have a collective last hurrah left in them, but then again I thought Kerry would see off their footballers too.